The Cougar football team kept up for the first part of their game at Salem Stadium Friday against the Spartans, but a series of big plays by Salem were eventually too much as the Cougars fell by a final score of 49-14.
“We played hard, but we made too many mistakes,” Cougar Head Coach Cam Akers said. “We made mistakes on both sides of the ball. We tackled poorly. We gave up more passing yards than anybody can give up and expect to see good things happen. We need to take a real hard look at who we are and who we want to be moving forward.”
Salem scored the first two touchdowns of the game. First, with 8:00 remaining in the first quarter, they hit a 23-yard pass for a touchdown. Then, with just 49 seconds remaining in the first, they hit an even bigger one with an 87-yard touchdown pass. After the point after attempts, the Spartans led 14-0.
“We told our guys to just keep playing,” Coach Akers said. “We knew they were good. We knew the kind of talent and speed they have. We just told our kids to keep trying. Eventually, we started to gain some ground.”
With 8:56 remaining in the second quarter, senior running back Trevor Burton broke free from 13-yards out to put Pulaski County on the board. Nathan Pratt hit the PAT to make it 14-7.
Salem answered immediately with an 86-yard kickoff return for a score. That PAT attempt was blocked, however, leaving the Cougars down 20-7.
With 1:04 remaining in the half, Burton scored his second touchdown of the night from three yards out. Pratt added the PAT to make it 20-14.
Salem did it again. This time they drove the ball downfield quickly through the air, crossing the goalline with a 17-yard pass. The PAT was good, making it 27-14 with just three seconds remaining in the half.
After a stretched out halftime due to Salem holding homecoming ceremonies, Salem took the kickoff and scored on a 15-yard pass. The PAT was good, and with the score moved to 34-14 the Cougars started to feel the pressure.
Salem scored again on a 74-yard run with 9:20 remaining in the third. The snap for the kick was bobbled, and the holder passed it into the endzone for a two-point conversion, making the score 42-14.
The final score of the night came on a 46-yard run with 5:03 remaining in the third. The kick made it 49-14 and the clock ran on.
To their credit, the Cougars did continue to try. The stats in some areas show that hard work.
The Cougars had 15 first downs, the Spartans had 16. The Cougars ran 51 times for 249 yards. The Spartans ran 22 times for 241 yards. The Cougars completed two of five pass attempts for 16 yards. Salem completed 12 of 15 attempts for 250 yards. Pulaski County had 265 total yards of offense. Salem had 491 yards.
The Cougars fumbled three times and lost two. Salem fumbled once and recovered it.
Individually, Trevor Burton had 25 carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns. Brett Jones had five carries for 61 yards. Tanner Mace ran seven times for 60 yards. Christopher Gallimore ran 10 times for 36 yards. Marcus Reed caught both of Galliimore’s passes for 16 yards.
“We need to make a decision on what kind of program we want to be,” Akers said. “Some of the stuff on the sideline bothers me. We shouldn’t see guys laughing and joking on the sideline when we’re losing a game. We can go out and blame officials or bad luck or whatever else we want to blame it on, but in the end if we don’t get better every day and become the football team I believe we can be, none of the complaining matters. We need to learn how to finish, even if we’re losing. There’s a lot of pride in doing your best, even if you don’t win. I wasn’t proud of everything we did tonight and we need to fix that.”
With the loss, the Cougars fall to 3-3 on the seasons. They are scheduled to host Blacksburg Friday, October 14, for the annual Homecoming game. The Bruins have had a tough season and are winless.